The Light Rail Solution?
In the Houston Area Survey for 2009, traffic concerns are still on the minds of many Houstonians. In 2009, 63% said traffic in the Houston area has “gotten worse,” compared to 66% in 2007; only a slight decrease. So what was the slight cause of decrease? Could it be the METRORail light rail?
The survey says, “In 2005, 76% said they had not ridden on the light rail at all during the past year; that figure fell to 62% in this year’s survey. The number who said they generally ride on the light rail at least once a month doubled from 6% in 2005 to 12% in 2009.” Little by little, the light rail system is getting a higher usage.
The METRORail is 7.5 miles long and has an approximate daily ridership of 39,500, making it the eleventh most-traveled light rail system in the U.S. with the second highest ridership per track mile.
The rail map can be found here.
Houston is planning to add four more light rail lines by 2012. They will connect the main line to the North, South, East and West sides. It’s hard to say whether the ridership will help offset the costs of the $2.6 billion project.
As found in the 2009 survey, 82% drive alone to work and 54% agreed that, “Even if public transportation were much more efficient than it is today, I would still drive my car to work.”
The light rail system can help traffic flow a bit in the downtown area and specific neighborhoods, but the traffic flow will still be about the same on the main highways. As a commuter of an hour long drive, I know that even if UH had the light rail going straight through campus right now, I would not use it. I live too far out of city limits for it to be of any use for me. The only time it would come in handy is if I wanted to go out somewhere for lunch and leave my car on campus.
I’m not saying the whole light rail idea is a bad thing. It’s just that we need to also look at the traffic flow influx coming from all around outside the city limits and come up with effective logistics for the best possible traffic control.
